Search results for: disease association

Authors: Haidy Weliam Megaly Gouda

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Dermatology is often a neglected specialty in low-resource settings despite the high morbidity associated with skin disease. This becomes even more significant when associated with HIV infection, as dermatological conditions are more common and aggressive in HIV-positive patients. African countries have the highest HIV infection rates, and skin conditions are frequently misdiagnosed and mismanaged because of a lack of dermatological training and educational material. The frequent lack of diagnostic tests in the African setting renders basic clinical skills all the more vital. This project aimed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of skin disease in the HIV population in a district hospital in Malawi. A basic dermatological clinical tool was developed and produced in collaboration with local staff and based on available literature and data collected from clinics. The aim was to improve diagnostic accuracy and provide guidance for the treatment of skin disease in HIV-positive patients. A literature search within Embassy, Medline and Google Scholar was performed and supplemented through data obtained from attending 5 Antiretroviral clinics. From the literature, conditions were selected for inclusion in the resource if they were described as specific, more prevalent, or extensive in the HIV population or have more adverse outcomes if they develop in HIV patients. Resource-appropriate treatment options were decided using Malawian Ministry of Health guidelines and textbooks specific to African dermatology. After the collection of data and discussion with local clinical and pharmacy staff, a list of 15 skin conditions was included, and a booklet was created using the simple layout of a picture, a diagnostic description of the disease and treatment options. Clinical photographs were collected from local clinics (with full consent of the patient) or from the book ‘Common Skin Diseases in Africa’ (permission granted if fully acknowledged and used in a not-for-profit capacity). This tool was evaluated by the local staff alongside an educational teaching session on skin disease. This project aimed to reduce uncertainty in diagnosis and provide guidance for appropriate treatment in HIV patients by gathering information into one practical and manageable resource. To further this project, we hope to review the effectiveness of the tool in practice.

Keywords: prevalence and pattern of skin diseases, impact on quality of life, rural Nepal, interventions, quality switched ruby laser, skin color river blindness, clinical signs, circularity index, grey level run length matrix, grey level co-occurrence matrix, local binary pattern, object detection, ring detection, shape identification

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Authors: Borys Stegniy, Anton Gerilovych, Oleksii Solodiankin, Vitaliy Bolotin, Anton Stegniy, Denys Muzyka, Claudio Afonso

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New APMV was isolated from white fronted goose in Ukraine. This isolate was tested serologically using monoclonal antibodies in haemagglutination-inhibition tests against APMV1-9. As the results obtained isolate showed cross reactions with APMV7. Following investigations were provided for the full genome sequencing using random primers and cloning into pCRII-TOPO. Analysis of 100 transformed colonies of E.coli using traditional sequencing gave us possibilities to find only 3 regions, which could identify by BLAST. The first region with the length of 367 bp had 70 % nucleotide sequence identity to the APMV 12 isolate Wigeon/Italy/3920_1/2005 at genome position 2419-2784. Next region (344 bp) had 66 % identity to the same APMV 12 isolate at position 4760-5103. The last region (365 bp) showed 71 % identity to Newcastle disease virus strain M4 at position 12569-12928.

Keywords: APMV, Newcastle disease virus, Ukraine, full genome sequencing

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Authors: A. M. Bumbea, A. Musetescu, P. Ciurea, A. Bighea

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Objectives: The authors present a Parsonage Turner syndrome, a rare disease characterized by onset in apparently healthy person with shoulder and/or arm pain, sensory deficit, motor deficit. The causes are not established, could be determinate by vaccination, postoperative, immunologic disease, post traumatic etc. Methods: The authors present a woman case, 32 years old, (in 2006), no medical history, with arm pain and no other symptom. The onset was sudden with pain at very high level quantified as 10 to a 0 to 10 scale, with no response to classical analgesic and corticoids. The only drugs which can reduce the intensity of pain were oxycodone hydrochloride, 60 mg daily and pregabalinum150 mg daily. After two weeks the intensity of pain was reduced to 5. The patient started a rehabilitation program. After 6 weeks the patient associated sensory and motor deficit. We performed electromyography for upper limb that showed incomplete denervation with reduced neural transmission speed. The patient receives neurotrophic drugs and painkillers for a long period and physical and kinetic therapy. After 6 months the pain was reduced to level 2 and the patient maintained only 150 mg pregabalinum for another 6 months. Then, the evaluation showed no pain but general amiotrophy in upper limb. Results: At the evaluation in 2009, the patient developed a rheumatoid syndrome with tender and swelling joints, but no positive inflammation test, no antibodies or rheumatoid factor. After two years, in 2011 the patient develops an increase of antinuclear antibodies. This context certifies the diagnosis of lupus and the patient receives the specific therapy. Conclusions: This case is not a typical case of onset of lupus with PTS, but the onset of PTS could include the onset of an immune disease.

Keywords: lupus, arm pain, patient, swelling

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Authors: Badar Khalid Hakim Alshabibi

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This study aims to examine the determinants of corporate board diligence in the listed firm in Sultanate of Oman, using four corporate board characteristics, the board size, board independence, board gender diversity, and nationality diversity. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample comprised of all companies listed in the Muscat Securities Exchange over a ten-year period (2009–2019), the study applies Pooled OLS regression to examine the determinants of corporate board diligence. Findings: Drawing from the agency theory and institutional theory, the results reveal that the number of independent board members had statistical significance, suggesting that board independence can improve corporate board diligence, though board size and nationality diversity were found to have a negative association with corporate board diligence. There is no evidence, however, that board gender diversity improves corporate board diligence. Practical implications: The study provides insights for both the investors and regulatory authorities in developing economies. For the investors to be aware about the corporate board characteristics which enhance board monitoring, and for the regulatory authorities to consider revising the corporate governance codes which enhance the quality of governance practices. Originality/value: The study provides new evidence documenting the determinants of corporate board diligence in a developing country such as the Sultanate of Oman, which has a high potential for growth and attracting foreign investment, as stated in Oman vision 2040. In addition, this paper is the first to examine the association between corporate board diligence and corporate board diversity aspects.

Keywords: board diligence, board monitoring, board composition, board diversity, oman

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Authors: Jeanne Grace, Melkamu D. Kassa

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Background: Despite the recognized benefits of physical exercise, including a reduction of health risk factor indicators, illness and deaths related to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, the extent of its recognition and use as a prevention strategy by healthcare professionals working in Ethiopian referral hospitals is unknown. Objective: This study explored healthcare professionals’ use of physical exercise as a non-communicable disease prevention strategy in the Ethiopian public sector healthcare system. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was conducted after being piloted to ensure validity and reliability. For the study, 312 participants were selected from 13 purposively selected Ethiopian referral hospitals, these being 99 physicians who were purposively selected and 213 nurses who were proportionately and randomly selected. Results: The results indicated that three-quarters (78%) of healthcare professionals working in Ethiopian hospitals are not using physical exercise as a strategy to prevent NCDs. Increased specialization (AOR = 20.203, p < 0.001), longer service years (AOR = 0.041, p = 0.014), young age (AOR = 19.871, p < 0.001), and being male (AOR = 0.269, p < 0.001), were predictors of using physical exercise as a strategy for the prevention of NCDs. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals’ utilization of physical exercise as a strategy for NCDs prevention was inadequate in Ethiopia. Given the increasing burden of NCD disease in Ethiopia, training nurses, physicians and medical managers have to acknowledge the use of physical exercise as an NCD prevention strategy. The results of this study highlight the importance of formulating physical exercise intervention strategies for NCDs patients, and the need to incorporate training for healthcare professionals on the type, intensity, duration, and frequency of physical exercise to prevent NCDs in the Ethiopian healthcare system.

Keywords: exercise, medical managers, nurses, physicians

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Authors: Masako Darrough, Mahmud Hossain, Santanu Mitra

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The prevalent and increasing workplace misconduct in the United States presents a significant threat to social welfare. Despite efforts by enforcement agencies, U.S. workers remain vulnerable to employer exploitation, as evidenced by rising workplace injuries and discrimination lawsuits. While existing literature has identified several factors associated with unethical labor practices, the influence of political corruption remains largely unexplored. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between political corruption and workplace misconduct in the U.S. context. Using the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and corruption convictions reported by the Department of Justice, we find a positive association between political corruption and workplace misconduct among U.S.-listed firms that are headquartered in different states from 2004 to 2022. Both unionization and stricter labor laws attenuate the positive association between corruption and unethical labor practices. Our analyses also address potential endogeneity concerns via difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, and propensity-score-matched analyses, reaffirming the robustness of our findings. This research contributes to the literature by shedding light on how corrupt political climates influence organizational operational behavior and unethical practices. It also underscores the importance of stakeholder trust and the role of regulatory frameworks and offers practical insights to policymakers by suggesting a judicious allocation of enforcement resources to more corrupt states.

Keywords: workplace misconduct, political corruption, unionization, labor law strictness

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Authors: Sonia Arradaza-Pajaron, Maria Aida Manila

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Teaching is considered the noblest yet believed to be one of the most complicated and challenging professions. Along this view, every teacher-producing institution should look into producing quality pre-service graduates who are efficacious enough with the right attitude and to deal with the task accorded to them. This study investigated the association between self-efficacy and attitude of graduating pre-service teachers with their actual student teaching performance. Survey questionnaires on self-efficacy and attitude toward practice teaching were fielded to the 90 actual respondents while their practice teaching grade was extracted to serve as the other main variable. Data were analyzed and treated statistically utilizing weighted mean and Pearson r to determine the relationship of variables of the study. Findings revealed that attitude of respondents of the three curricular programs was favorable, and they are self-efficacious. Their practice teaching performance was interpreted as very good. Results further showed a significant positive relationship between their self-efficacy and practice teaching performance. It showed that their rating was a manifestation of self- efficacious group. Although they exude positive attitude towards practice teaching, yet no significant relationship was seen with their attitude and performance. Moreover, data manifested that most of them can pay attention during their conduct of lessons in the class, as well as, listen attentively to their cooperating teachers during post conferences. They can perform student teaching tasks better even when there were other interesting things to do. Most of all, they can regulate or suppress not so pleasant thoughts or feelings and take things lightly even in most challenging situations. As gleaned from the results, it can be concluded that there was an association between self-efficacy and practice teaching performance of the respondents.

Keywords: academic achievement, attitude, self-efficacy, student teaching performance

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Authors: Seung Hun Lee, Sang Yeoup Lee

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Objectives: To investigate associations between degrees of obesity using correlations between obesity indices and cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods: BMI, waist circumference (WC), fasting insulin, fasting glucose, lipids, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area using computed tomographic images were measured in 113 obese female without cardiovascular disease (CVD). Correlations between obesity indices and cardiometabolic risk factors were analyzed in obese subgroups defined using sequential obesity indices. Results: Mean BMI and WC were 29.6 kg/m2 and 92.8 cm. BMI showed significant correlations with all five cardiometabolic risk factors until the BMI cut-off point reached 27 kg/m2, but when it exceeded 30 kg/m2, correlations no longer existed. WC was significantly correlated with all five cardiometabolic risk factors up to a value of 85 cm, but when WC exceeded 90 cm, correlations no longer existed. Conclusions: Our data suggest that moderate weight-loss goals may not be enough to ameliorate cardiometabolic markers in severely obese patients. Therefore, individualized weight-loss goals should be recommended to such patients to improve health benefits.

Keywords: correlation, cardiovascular disease, risk factors, obesity

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Authors: Irina S. Burashnikova, Dmitriy A. Sychev, Ruslan Y. Kazakov

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Сytochrome P450 CYP2D6 activity affects antipsychotic therapy safety. CYP2D6*4 polymorphism frequency varies among different ethnic groups. We studied CYP2D6*4 polymorphism frequency in Tatar and Russian schizophrenic patients and association of CYP2D6*4 polymorphism and extrapyramidal disorders (EPD) frequency in schizophrenic patients on haloperidol monotherapy in daily doses up to 20 mg. Results: Heterozygous CYP2D6*4 allele carrier frequency among Tatars was lower (23.8% vs 32.4% in Russians), but the differences did not reach statistical significance. CYP2D6*4 allele frequency among Tatars was also lower (11.9% vs 24.3% in Russians), but the difference was not quite significant (p=0.0592). Average daily haloperidol dose in the group without EPD was significantly higher than in the group with EPD (11.35±4.6 vs 13.87±3.3 mg, p=0.0252), but average daily haloperidol dose/weight ratios in the compared groups had no significant differences. Statistically significant association between EPD development and heterozygous CYP2D6*1/*4 genotype and CYP2D6*4 allele carrier frequency was revealed among all schizophrenic patients and among those of Tatar nationality. Further well designed pharmacogenetic studies in different Russian regions are needed to improve psychotropic therapy safety and to establish evidence-based indications for pharmacogenetic testing in clinical practice.

Keywords: antipsychotic, CYP2D6 polymorphism, ethnic differences of CYP2D6*4 allele frequency, extrapyramidal side effects/disorder, schizophrenia, pharmacogenetics, Russians, Tatars

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Authors: Madeline Gibson

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Night shift workers make up an essential part of the modern workforce. However, night shift workers have higher incidences of late in life diseases and earlier mortality. Night shift workers are exposed to constant light and experience circadian rhythm disruption. Sleep disruption is thought to increase oxidative stress, defined as an imbalance of excess pro-oxidative factors and reactive oxygen species over anti-oxidative activity. Oxidative stress can damage cells, proteins and DNA and can eventually lead to varied chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia. This review aimed to understand whether night shift workers were at greater risk of oxidative stress and to contribute to a consensus on this relationship. Twelve studies published in 2001-2019 examining 2,081 workers were included in the review. Studies compared both the impact of working a single shift and in comparisons between those who regularly work night shifts and only day shifts. All studies had evidence to support this relationship across a range of oxidative stress indicators, including increased DNA damage, reduced DNA repair capacity, increased lipid peroxidation, higher levels of reactive oxygen species, and to a lesser extent, a reduction in antioxidant defense. This research supports the theory that melatonin and the sleep-wake cycle mediate the relationship between shift work and oxidative stress. It is concluded that night shift work increases the risk for oxidative stress and, therefore, future disease. Recommendations are made to promote the long-term health of shift workers considering these findings.

Keywords: night shift work, coxidative stress, circadian rhythm, melatonin, disease, circadian rhythm disruption

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Authors: Niloufar Yadgari

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GANs are a potent form of deep learning models that have found success in various fields. They are part of the larger group of generative techniques, which aim to produce authentic data using a probabilistic model that learns distributions from actual samples. In clinical settings, GANs have demonstrated improved abilities in capturing spatially intricate, nonlinear, and possibly subtle disease impacts in contrast to conventional generative techniques. This review critically evaluates the current research on how GANs are being used in imaging studies of different neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease, brain tumors, aging of the brain, and multiple sclerosis. We offer a clear explanation of different GAN techniques for each use case in neuroimaging and delve into the key hurdles, unanswered queries, and potential advancements in utilizing GANs in this field. Our goal is to connect advanced deep learning techniques with neurology studies, showcasing how GANs can assist in clinical decision-making and enhance our comprehension of the structural and functional aspects of brain disorders.

Keywords: GAN, pathology, generative adversarial network, neuro imaging

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Authors: Rowena R. De Guzman

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Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration requires that higher education institutions (HEIs) must adjust the quality of their educational services and develop a global mindset, through various quality assurance (QA) activities to a level producing global graduates and encouraging human resource mobility. For Philippine HEIs, QA involves enormous tasks and responsibilities, whereby the implementation of which involves various parties, agencies and stakeholders; and in that case innovations have to be installed to engage the whole system in the QA process. In this study, collaborative governance (CG), a concept from the field of public administration, is introduced in educational management, particularly in the area of QA management. The paper suggests that the exercise of and attitude toward CG in QA is relevant to the practice of activities across QA indicators in higher educational services among stakeholders from participating HEIs. Participants representing different interests are collectively empowered, and this compelled them to participate and support the QA activities of the HEIs. It is recommended to embed CG model in the system for HEIs undergoing or intending to undergo QA achieve their desired QA outcomes. The study supports the commitment of the Philippine government to the evolving policy and efforts to achieve comparable qualifications across the Asia-Pacific region under the auspices of the UNESCO.

Keywords: ASEAN integration, collaborative governance, global education, government policy, higher education, international demands, quality assurance

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Authors: H. Zidoum, A. AlShareedah, S. Al Sawafi, A. Al-Ansari, B. Al Lawati

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Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with genetic and environmental components. SLE is characterized by a wide variability of clinical manifestations and a course frequently subject to unpredictable flares. Despite recent progress in classification tools, the early diagnosis of SLE is still an unmet need for many patients. This study proposes an interpretable disease classification model that combines the high and efficient predictive performance of CatBoost and the model-agnostic interpretation tools of Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP). The CatBoost model was trained on a local cohort of 219 Omani patients with SLE as well as other control diseases. Furthermore, the SHAP library was used to generate individual explanations of the model's decisions as well as rank clinical features by contribution. Overall, we achieved an AUC score of 0.945, F1-score of 0.92 and identified four clinical features (alopecia, renal disorders, cutaneous lupus, and hemolytic anemia) along with the patient's age that was shown to have the greatest contribution on the prediction.

Keywords: feature selection, classification, systemic lupus erythematosus, model interpretation, SHAP, Catboost

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Authors: Tei Kim, Brooklynn McNeil, Kathryn Dunn, Douglas I. Walker

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To better characterize the relationship between complex chemical exposures and disease, our laboratory uses an approach that combines low-cost, polydimethylsiloxane (silicone) wristband samplers that absorb many of the chemicals we are exposed to with untargeted high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to characterize 1000’s of chemicals at a time. In studies with human populations, these wristbands can provide an important measure of our environment: however, there is a need to use this approach in large cohorts to study exposures associated with the disease. To facilitate the use of silicone samplers in large scale population studies, the goal of this research project was to establish automated sample preparation methods that improve throughput, robustness, and scalability of analytical methods for silicone wristbands. Using the Opentron OT2 automated liquid platform, which provides a low-cost and opensource framework for automated pipetting, we created two separate workflows that translate the manual wristband preparation method to a fully automated protocol that requires minor intervention by the operator. These protocols include a sequence generation step, which defines the location of all plates and labware according to user-specified settings, and a transfer protocol that includes all necessary instrument parameters and instructions for automated solvent extraction of wristband samplers. These protocols were written in Python and uploaded to GitHub for use by others in the research community. Results from this project show it is possible to establish automated and open source methods for the preparation of silicone wristband samplers to support profiling of many environmental exposures. Ongoing studies include deployment in longitudinal cohort studies to investigate the relationship between personal chemical exposure and disease.

Keywords: bioinformatics, automation, opentrons, research

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Authors: Catarina Ramos Pereira, Jorge Rodrigues, Natália Oliveira, Jorge Machado, Maria Begoña Criado, Jorge Machado, Henri J. Greten

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Background: Parkinson's disease is a multi-system neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. To slow disorder progression, different treatment options are now available, but in most cases, these therapeutic strategies also involve the presence of important side effects. This has led many patients to pursue complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, to alleviate PD symptoms. Therefore, an update on the efficacy of this treatment for patients of PD is of great value. This work presents a systematic review of the efficacy of acupuncture treatments in relieving PD symptoms. Methods: EMBASE, Medline, Pubmed, Science Direct, The Cochrane Library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), and Scielo databases were systematically searched from January 2011 through July 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English with all types of acupuncture treatment were included. The selection and analysis of the articles were conducted by two blinding authors through the Rayyan application. Results: 720 potentially relevant articles were identified; 52 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. After the exclusion of 35, we found 17 eligible. The included RCTs reported positive effects for acupuncture plus conventional treatment compared with conventional treatment alone in the UPDRS score. Conclusions: Additional evidence should be supported by rigorous methodological strategies. Although firm conclusions cannot be drawn, acupuncture treatment, in the framework of an interdisciplinary care team, appears to have positive effects on PD symptoms.

Keywords: systematic review, Parkinson disease, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine

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Authors: Suzan Anwar, Utkarsh Goyal

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Heart rate (HR) is a predictor of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and all-cause mortality in the general population, as well as in patients with cardio and cerebrovascular diseases. Machine learning (ML) significantly improves the accuracy of cardiovascular risk prediction, increasing the number of patients identified who could benefit from preventive treatment while avoiding unnecessary treatment of others. This research examines relationship between the individual's various heart health inputs like age, sex, cp, trestbps, thalach, oldpeaketc, and the likelihood of developing heart disease. Machine learning techniques like logistic regression and decision tree, and Python are used. The results of testing and evaluating the model using the Heart Failure Prediction Dataset show the chance of a person having a heart disease with variable accuracy. Logistic regression has yielded an accuracy of 80.48% without data handling. With data handling (normalization, standardscaler), the logistic regression resulted in improved accuracy of 87.80%, decision tree 100%, random forest 100%, and SVM 100%.

Keywords: heart rate, machine learning, SVM, decision tree, logistic regression, random forest

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Authors: Shazia Anwer Bukhari, Waseem Akhtar Shamshari, Mahmood-Ur-Rahman, Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq, Hawa Z. E. Jaafar

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Diabetes mellitus is a life threatening disease and scientists are doing their best to find a cost effective and permanent treatment of this malady. The recent trend is to control the disease by target base inhibiting of enzymes or proteins. Secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) is found to cause five times more risk of diabetes when expressed above average levels. This study was therefore designed to analyze the SFRP4 and to find its potential inhibitors. SFRP4 was analyzed by bio-informatics tools of sequence tool and structure tool. A total of three potential inhibitors of SFRP4 were found, namely cyclothiazide, clopamide and perindopril. These inhibitors showed significant interactions with SFRP4 as compared to other inhibitors as well as control (acetohexamide). The findings suggest the possible treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2 by inhibiting the SFRP4 using the inhibitors cyclothiazide, clopamide and perindopril.

Keywords: bioscreening, clopamide, cyclothiazide, diabetes mellitus, perindopril, SFRP4

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Authors: Kavyadevi N., Kaviya G., Gowsalya P., Janani M., Mohanraj S.

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Hevea brasiliensis, also known as the rubber tree, is one of the foremost assets of crops in the world. One of the most significant advantages of the Rubber Plant in terms of air oxygenation is its capacity to reduce the likelihood of an individual developing respiratory allergies like asthma. To construct such a system that can properly identify crop diseases and pests and then create a database of insecticides for each pest and disease, we must first give treatment for the illness that has been detected. We shall primarily examine three major leaf diseases since they are economically deficient in this article, which is Bird's eye spot, algal spot and powdery mildew. And the recommended work focuses on disease identification on rubber tree leaves. It will be accomplished by employing one of the superior algorithms. Input, Preprocessing, Image Segmentation, Extraction Feature, and Classification will be followed by the processing technique. We will use time-consuming procedures that they use to detect the sickness. As a consequence, the main ailments, underlying causes, and signs and symptoms of diseases that harm the rubber tree are covered in this study.

Keywords: image processing, python, convolution neural network (CNN), machine learning

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Authors: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi, Maisa Ciampi Guillardi, Flávia Rodrigues Patrício, Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho

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Certified agricultural products are important components of the food industry. However, certifiers have been expanding the list of restricted or prohibited pesticides, limiting the options of products for phytosanitary control of plant diseases, but without offering alternatives to the farmers. Soybean and coffee leaf rust, brown eye spots, and Phoma leaf spots are the main fungal diseases that pose a serious threat to soybean and coffee cultivation worldwide. In conventional farming systems, these diseases are controlled by using synthetic fungicides, which, in addition to intensifying the occurrence of fungal resistance, are highly toxic to the environment, farmers, and consumers. In organic, agroecological, or regenerative farming systems, product options for plant protection are limited, being available only copper-based compounds, and biodefensivesornon-standard homemade products. Therefore, there is a growing demand for effective bioprotectors with low environmental impact for adoption in more sustainable agricultural systems. Then, to contribute to covering such a gap, we have developed a compound based on plant extracts and metallic elements for foliar application. This product has both biostimulant and bioprotective action, which promotes sustainable disease control, increases productivity as well as reduces damage to the environment. The product's components have complementary mechanisms that promote protection against the disease by directly acting on the pathogens and activating the plant's natural defense system. The protective ability of the product against three coffee diseases (coffee leaf rust, brown eye spot, and Phoma leaf spot) and against soybean rust disease was evaluated, in addition to its ability to promote plant growth. Our goal is to offer an effective alternative to control the main coffee fungal diseases and soybean fungal diseases, with a biostimulant effect and low toxicity. The proposed product can also be part of the integrated management of coffee and soybean diseases in conventional farming associated with chemical and biological pesticides, offering the market a sustainable coffee and soybean with high added value and low residue content. Experiments were carried out under controlled conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the product in controlling rust, phoma, and cercosporiosis in comparison to control-inoculated plants that did not receive the product. The in vitro and in vivo effects of the product on the pathogen were evaluated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The fungistatic action of the product was demonstrated by a reduction of 85% and 95% in spore germination and disease symptoms severity on the leaves of coffee plants, respectively. The formulation had both a protective effect, acting to prevent infection by coffee leaf rust, and a curative effect, reducing the rust symptoms after its establishment.

Keywords: plant disease, natural fungicide, plant health, sustainability, alternative disease management

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Authors: Mina Hojat Ansari, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Mohammad Reza Fattahi, Ali Reza Safarpour

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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common bowel disorder which is usually diagnosed through the abdominal pain, fecal irregularities and bloating. Alteration in the intestinal microbial composition is implicating to inflammatory and functional bowel disorders which is recently also noted as an IBS feature. Owing to the potential importance of microbiota implication in both efficiencies of the treatment and prevention of the diseases, we examined the association between the intestinal microbiota and different bowel patterns in a cohort of subjects with IBS and healthy controls. Fresh fecal samples were collected from a total of 50 subjects, 30 of whom met the Rome IV criteria for IBS and 20 Healthy control. Total DNA was extracted and library preparation was conducted following the standard protocol for small whole genome sequencing. The pooled libraries sequenced on an Illumina Nextseq platform with a 2 × 150 paired-end read length and obtained sequences were analyzed using several bioinformatics programs. The majority of sequences obtained in the current study assigned to bacteria. However, our finding highlighted the significant microbial taxa variation among the studied groups. The result, therefore, suggests a significant association of the microbiota with symptoms and bowel characteristics in patients with IBS. These alterations in fecal microbiota could be exploited as a biomarker for IBS or its subtypes and suggest the modification of the microbiota might be integrated into prevention and treatment strategies for IBS.

Keywords: irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal microbiota, small whole genome sequencing, fecal samples, Illumina

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Authors: Amine Ben Slama, Aymen Mouelhi, Sondes Manoubi, Chiraz Mbarek, Hedi Trabelsi, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech

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Vertigo is a sensation of feeling off balance; the cause of this symptom is very difficult to interpret and needs a complementary exam. Generally, vertigo is caused by an ear problem. Some of the most common causes include: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Meniere's disease and vestibular neuritis (VN). In clinical practice, different tests of videonystagmographic (VNG) technique are used to detect the presence of vestibular neuritis (VN). The topographical diagnosis of this disease presents a large diversity in its characteristics that confirm a mixture of problems for usual etiological analysis methods. In this study, a vestibular neuritis analysis method is proposed with videonystagmography (VNG) applications using an estimation of pupil movements in the case of an uncontrolled motion to obtain an efficient and reliable diagnosis results. First, an estimation of the pupil displacement vectors using with Hough Transform (HT) is performed to approximate the location of pupil region. Then, temporal and frequency features are computed from the rotation angle variation of the pupil motion. Finally, optimized features are selected using Fisher criterion evaluation for discrimination and classification of the VN disease.Experimental results are analyzed using two categories: normal and pathologic. By classifying the reduced features using the Support Vector Machine (SVM), 94% is achieved as classification accuracy. Compared to recent studies, the proposed expert system is extremely helpful and highly effective to resolve the problem of VNG analysis and provide an accurate diagnostic for medical devices.

Keywords: nystagmus, vestibular neuritis, videonystagmographic system, VNG, Fisher criterion, support vector machine, SVM

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Authors: O. B. Urhibo, D. Imhonopi, T. George

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The global rate of decline in entrepreneurial activities, and the prevalence in Africa, especially Nigeria, is more worrisome. In recent times, these problems, such as the lack of accessibility and utilization of financial incentives needed to promote entrepreneurial activities, have led to a decrease in entrepreneurial activities. The causes of the decline have been evaluated from a different perspective and have further confirmed the relevance and need for the sustainability of the Fashion industry. With the increasing rate of unemployment and poverty in Nigeria and the literature gap in the social context, this study investigated the patterns of sustainable financial incentives utilisation among fashion design entrepreneurs in Nigeria through a qualitative approach. The Eastern part of Nigeria was considered in this study because of the high rate of market activity for textile and clothing firms. Specifically, Delta state was considered in this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select key informants consisting of twelve (12) executives of the associations (i.e., Fashion Designer & Exhibitors Association, Delta Fashion Designers, and Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria for the interview sessions. Four themes emanate from the thematic analysis -lack of sufficient collateral, difficulties and duration of loan application processes, unacceptable business proposal/plan, and the absence of audited financial accounts were found to be the patterns of sustainable financial incentives utilisation among fashion design entrepreneurs in Nigeria. The promotion of sustainable patterns and supports has been suggested to reduce the challenges of sustainable financial incentives utilisation among fashion design entrepreneurs.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, fashion design, financial incentives, patterns, sustainability, utilisation

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Authors: Amir Reza Heydari, Yaser Jenab

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Coronary artery disease, a common cardiovascular disease, is attributed to the accumulation of cholesterol-based plaques in the coronary arteries, leading to atherosclerosis. This disease is associated with risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol levels, contributing to severe clinical consequences, including acute coronary syndromes and myocardial infarction. Treatment approaches such as from lifestyle interventions to surgical procedures like percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass surgery. These interventions often employ stents, including bare-metal stents (BMS), drug-eluting stents (DES), and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS), each with its advantages and limitations. Computational tools have emerged as critical in optimizing stent designs and assessing their performance. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the computational methods of studies based on the finite element (FE) method in the field of coronary stenting and discuss the potential for development and clinical application of stent devices. Additionally, the importance of assessing the ability of computational models is emphasized to represent real-world phenomena, supported by recent guidelines from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Validation processes proposed include comparing model performance with in vivo, ex-vivo, or in vitro data, alongside uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis. These methods can enhance the credibility and reliability of in silico simulations, ultimately aiding in the assessment of coronary stent designs in various clinical contexts.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, materials, restenosis, review, validation

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Authors: A. Dadda, D. Khelef, K. Ait-Oudia, R. Kaidi

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Neonatal calf diarrhea is the most important disease of neonatal calves and results in the greatest economic losses due to disease in this age group in both dairy and beef calves. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the morbidity and the mortality of neonatal diarrhea in dairy calves also to determine aetiology and risk factors were caused diarrhea in dairy veal under 60 days old. A total of 324 claves, housed in 30 dairy breeding were followed during two velage season from January to Juan 2013. The total mortality was 5,9% and was significantly higher in calves had less than 15 days of age. The incidence rate of diarrhea was 31,5% and peaked in the first two weeks after velage. The main causes were breeding controls, defect of passive immunity, old of calf, production season, and nutrient of pregnant cattle, veal’s housing and infectious agents. ELISA test on 22 fecal samples revealed that the 31, 82% of dairy breeding were infected, by cryptosporidium parvum in 13, 6% of study population, E.Coli F5 in 9% and Rotavirus with rate of 4, 5%.

Keywords: diarrhoea, neonatal, mortality, aetiology, risk factors, incidence

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Authors: Punam Shaw

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Relationship often refers to the acquaintance or association between two or more things, which are interrelated and interdependent. The socio-economic status is obviously a blending of two states, would, therefore, be a ranking of an individual by the society he or she lives in, and in terms of his/her material belonging, cultural possessions along with the degree of respect, power and influence wield. Hence, education, income and occupation of an individual play a significant role in society. Positive mental attitude leads to achieve the set goal, and improve performance particularly in team cohesiveness, which may be determined by various interrelated aspects, which can predict the future assessment in their respective field accordingly. The study intended to examine and explore the relationship between Socio-economic Status and Mental Toughness of cricketers. For the present study descriptive survey research method was used and selected 40 (male=20 female=20) U-17 years registered players under Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), as the sample population. Modified Socio-Economic Status Scale was used to collect the data regarding players, socioeconomic Status and to assess the mental toughness; Scott Barry Kaufman questionnaire was used. The data had been analysed through applying Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and t-test as statistical techniques. The findings of the study showed that there is a positive correlation between socioeconomic Status and Mental Toughness among cricketers, it was found that significant difference was presented between male and female SES group. It was further revealed that there is no significant difference between male and female cricketers and in their different socioeconomic class with respect to their mental toughness.

Keywords: cricketers, mental toughness, relationship, socio-economic status

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Authors: Liudmila Garzanova, Lidia Ananyeva, Olga Koneva, Olga Ovsyannikova, Oxana Desinova, Mayya Starovoytova, Rushana Shayahmetova, Anna Khelkovskaya-Sergeeva

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Objectives. There is very few data on changes of the musculoskeletal manifestations (artritis, arthralgia, muscle weakness, etc.) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) on rituximab (RTX) therapy. The aim of our study was to assess the severity of the musculoskeletal involvement in SSc patients (pts) and its changes during RTX therapy. Methods. Our study included 103 pts with SSc. The mean followup period was 12.6±10.7 months. The mean age was 47±12.9 years, female-87 pts (84%), the diffuse cutaneous subset of the disease had 55 pts (53%). The mean disease duration was 6.2±5.5 years. All pts had interstitial lung disease (ILD) and were positive for ANA, 67% of them were positive for antitopoisomerase-1. All patients received prednisolone at a dose of 11.3±4.5 mg/day, immunosuppressants at inclusion received 47% of them. Pts received RTX due to the ineffectiveness of previous therapy for ILD. The cumulative mean dose of RTX was 1.7±0.6 grams. Arthritis was observed in 22 pts (21%), arthralgias in 47 pts (46%). Muscle weakness was observed in 17 pts (17%). Tendon friction rubs was established in 7 pts (7%). The results at baseline and at the end of the follow up are presented in the form of mean values. Results. There was an improvement of all outcome parameters and musculoskeletal manifestations on RTX therapy. There was a decrease in the number of pts with arthritis from 22 (21%) to 10 (9%), a decrease in the number of pts with arthralgias from 47 (46%) to 31 (30%). The number of pts with muscle weakness decreased from 17 (17%) to 7 (7%). The number of pts with tendon friction rubs decreased from 7 (7%) to 3 (3%). The creatine phosphokinase decreased from 365.5±186 to 70.8±50.4 (p=0.00006). The C-reactive protein (CRP) decreased from 23.2±31.3 to 8.62±7.4 (p=0.001). The dose of prednisolone was reduced from 11.3±4.5 to 9.8±3.5 mg/day (p=0.0004). Conclusion. In our study, musculoskeletal involvement was detected in almost half of the patients with SSc-ILD. There was an improvement of musculoskeletal manifestations despite a small cumulative dose of RTX. We also managed to reduce the dose of glucocorticosteroids. The improvement of musculoskeletal manifestations was accompanied by a decrease in laboratory parameters - creatine phosphokinase and CRP. RTX is effective option for treatment of musculoskeletal manifestations in SSc.

Keywords: arthritis, musculoskeletal involvement, systemic sclerosis, rituximab

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Authors: Gebrehiwot H., Giorgis Bahita

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Firms in Africa experience less financial market in comparison to other emerging and developed countries, thus lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of innovation and growth. Though there are different factors to be considered, underdeveloped financial systems take the lion's share in hindering firm innovation and growth in Africa. Insufficient capacity to innovate is one of the problems facing African businesses. Moreover, a critical challenge faced by firms in Africa is access to finance and the inability of financially constrained firms to grow. Only little is known about how different sources of finance affect firm innovation and growth in Africa, specifically the formal and informal finance effect on firm innovation and growth. This study's aim is to address this gap by using formal and informal finance for working capital and fixed capital and its role in firm innovation and firm growth using firm-level data from the World Bank enterprise survey 2006-2019 with a total of 5661 sample firms from 14 countries based on available data on the selected variables. Additionally, this study examines factors for accessing credit from a formal financial institution. The logit model is used to examine the effect of finance on a firm’s innovation and factors to access formal finance, while the Ordinary List Square (OLS) regression mode is used to investigate the effect of finance on firm growth. 2SLS instrumental variables are used to address the possible endogeneity problem in firm growth and finance-innovation relationships. A result from the logistic regression indicates that both formal and informal finance used for working capital and investment in fixed capital was found to have a significant positive association with product and process innovation. In the case of finance and growth, finding show that positive association of both formal and informal financing to working capital and new investment in fixed capital though the informal has positive relations to firm growth as measured by sale growth but no significant association as measured by employment growth. Formal finance shows more magnitude of effect on innovation and growth when firms use formal finance to finance investment in fixed capital, while informal finance show less compared to formal finance and this confirms previous studies as informal is mainly used for working capital in underdeveloped economies like Africa. The factors that determine credit access: Age, firm size, managerial experience, exporting, gender, and foreign ownership are found to have significant determinant factors in accessing credit from formal and informal sources among the selected sample countries.

Keywords: formal finance, informal finance, innovation, growth

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Hala O. El-Mesallamy, Salwa M. Suwailem, Mae M. Seleem

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Visfatin and apelin are two new adipokines that recently gained a special interest in diabetes research. This study was conducted to study the interplay between these two adipokines and their correlation with other inflammatory and biochemical parameters in type 2 diabetic (T2D) postmenopausal women with CAD. Visfatin and apelin were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Visfatin was found to be significantly higher in the following groups: T2D patients without CAD, non-obese and obese T2D patients with CAD when compared to control group. Apelin was found to be significantly lower in non-obese and obese T2D patients with CAD when compared to control group. Visfatin and apelin were found to be significantly associated with each other and with other biochemical parameters. The current study provides evidence for the interplay between visfatin and apelin through the inflammatory milieu characteristic of T2D and their possible role in the pathogenesis of CAD complication of T2D.

Keywords: apelin, coronary artery disease, inflammation, type 2 diabetes, visfatin

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Authors: Hamza Hadj Abdallah, Brahim Belabdi

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Respiratory disease is a dominant pathology in cattle. It causes mortality and especially morbidity and irreversible damage. Although the dairy herd is affected, it is essentially the lactating herd and especially young cattle either nursing or fattening that undergo the greatest economic impact. The objective of this study is to establish a microbiological diagnosis of bovine respiratory inffections from lung presented with gross lesions at the slaughter of Batna. A total of 124 samples (pharyngeal and nasal swabs and lung fragments) from 31 seven months old calves, with lung lesions was collected to determine possible correlations between etiologic agents and lesion types. The hépatisation injury (or consolidation) was the major lesion (45.17%) preferentially localized in the right apical lobe. A diverse microbial flora (15 genera and 291 strains was isolated. The bacteria most frequently isolated are the Enterobacteriaceae (49.45%), Staphylococci (25.1%) followed by non Enterobacteriaceae bacilli represented by Pseudomonas (5.83%) and finally, Streptococcus (13.38 %). The pneumotropic bacteria (Pasteurellaaerogenes and Pasteurellapneumotropica) were isolated at a rate of 0.68%. The study of the sensitivity of some germs to antibiotics showed a sensitivity of 100% for ceftazidime. A very high sensitivity was also observed for kanamycin, Ciprofloxacin, Imepinem, Cefepime, Tobramycin and Gentamycin (between 90% and 97%). Strains of E. coli showed a sensitivity of 100% for Imepinem, while only 55.9% of the strains were sensitive to Ampicillin. The isolated Pasteurella exhibited excellent sensitivity (100%) for the antimicrobials used with the exception of Colistin and Ticarcillin-Clavulanic acid association which showed a sensitivity of 50%.This survey has demonstrated the strong spread of atypical pneumonia in cattle population (bulls) at the slaughterhouse of Batna justifying stunting and losses in cattle farms in the region.Thus, it was considered urgent to establish a profile of sensitivity of different germs to antibiotics isolated to limit this increasingly dreadful infection.

Keywords: Pasteurella, enterobacteria, bacteriology, pneumonia

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Anna Wendolowska, Dorota Czyzowska

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An intimate relationship is a significant factor that influences romantic partners’ well-being. In the face of stress, avoidant partners often employ a defense-against-intimacy strategy, leading to reduced relationship satisfaction, intimacy, interdependence, and longevity. Dyadic coping can buffer the negative effects of stress on relational satisfaction. Emotional competence mediates the relationship between insecure attachment and intimacy. In the current study, the link between attachment, different forms of dyadic coping, and various aspects of relationship satisfaction was examined. Both partners completed the attachment style questionnaire, the well matching couple questionnaire, and the dyadic coping inventory. The data was analyzed using the actor–partner interdependence model. The results highlighted a negative association between insecure-avoidant attachment style and intimacy. The actor effects of avoidant attachment on relational intimacy for women and for men were significant, whilst the partner effects for both spouses were not significant. The emotion-focused common dyadic coping moderated the relationship between avoidance of attachment and the partner's sense of intimacy. After controlling for the emotion-focused common dyadic coping, the actor effect of attachment on intimacy for men was slightly weaker, and the actor effect for women turned out to be insignificant. The emotion-focused common dyadic coping weakened the negative association between insecure attachment and relational intimacy. The impact of adult attachment and dyadic coping significantly contributes to subjective relational well-being.

Keywords: adult attachment, dyadic coping, relational intimacy, relationship satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 157